EXECUTIVE ORDER KBB 04-27

Regional Trauma-Patient Care Statewide System Task Force

WHEREAS, to diminish or eliminate risk of death or permanent disability, a patient with a trauma-related injury from an incident such as a motor vehicle accident, fall, stabbing, blunt force, explosion, and/or chemical, biological or nuclear agent, should receive timely diagnosis and treatment of both their actual and potential injuries by a multi-disciplinary team of health care professionals who are part of an organized, coordinated trauma-patient care system composed of public and private health care providers that deliver full-range trauma-patient care within a defined geographical area;

WHEREAS, optimally, a trauma-patient care system should be regionalized for efficient use of the health care resources within a specific region, based upon the unique requirements of the population being served in the context of preventative community health; and

WHEREAS, the interests of the citizens of the state of Louisiana would be best served by the continuation of the Regional Trauma-Patient Care Statewide System Task Force in order to complete its duties of evaluating the current level of the trauma-patient care capabilities within each region of the state of Louisiana, proposing a comprehensive statewide plan for a regional trauma-patient care system throughout the state of Louisiana, and identifying funding sources to adequately support the proposed regional statewide trauma-patient care system;

NOW THEREFORE I, KATHLEEN BABINEAUX BLANCO, Governor of the state of Louisiana, by virtue of the authority vested by the Constitution and laws of the state of Louisiana, do hereby order and direct as follows:

SECTION 2: The duties of the Task Force shall include, but are not limited to, the following:

A. Evaluating the current level of trauma-patient care in existence in the various regions of the state of Louisiana;

B. Evaluating the feasibility and benefits of creating a regional trauma-patient care system throughout the state of Louisiana, and/or creating a joint regional trauma-patient care/homeland security network system;

C. Developing and recommending a comprehensive statewide plan for a regional trauma-patient care system throughout the state of Louisiana that is compatible and/or interfaced with the state of Louisiana's Homeland Security Network (hereafter "comprehensive statewide plan"); and

SECTION 3: By February 1, 2005, the Task Force shall submit a written report to the governor and the Louisiana Legislature on the issues set forth in Section 2 of this Order, including a proposal for a comprehensive statewide plan.

SECTION 4: The Task Force shall be composed of a maximum of twenty-four (24) members, who unless otherwise specified, shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the governor. The membership of the Task Force shall be selected as follows:

A. The governor, or the governor's designee;

B. The speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives, or the speaker's designee;

C. The president of the Louisiana State Senate, or the president's designee;

D. The secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals, or the secretary's designee;

E. The adjutant general/director of the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, or the adjutant general/director's designee;

F. The chair of the House Committee on Louisiana Homeland Security, or the chair's designee;

G. The chair of the Senate Select Committee on Homeland Security, or the chair's designee;

H. The chair of the House Committee on Health and Welfare, or the chair's designee;

I. The chair of the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare, or the chair's designee;

J. The assistant secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals, Office of Public Health, or the assistant secretary's designee;

K. The chancellor of the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, or the chancellor's designee;

L. The chancellor of the LSU Health Sciences Center Shreveport, or the chancellor's designee;

M. The chair of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission, or the chair's designee;

N. The president of the Louisiana Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians, or the president's designee;

O. The president of the Louisiana Ambulance Association, or the president's designee;

P. The president of the Louisiana Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, or the president's designee;

Q. Two (2) representatives of the Louisiana Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, Committee on Trauma;

R. The president of the Louisiana Hospital Association, or the president's designee;

S. The president of the Rural Hospital Coalition, or the president's designee;

T. The president of the Louisiana State Medical Society, or the president's designee;

U. The president of the Louisiana Medical Association, or the president's designee; and

V. Two (2) members at-large.

SECTION 5: The chair of the Task Force shall be appointed by the governor from the membership for the Task Force. All other officers, if any, shall be elected by the Task Force from its membership.

SECTION 6: The Task Force shall meet at regularly scheduled intervals and at the call of the chair.

SECTION 7: A. Task Force members shall not receive additional compensation or a per diem from the Office of the Governor or the Department of Health and Hospitals for serving on the Task Force.

B. Task Force members who are employees or an elected public officials of the state of Louisiana or a political subdivision of the state of Louisiana may seek reimbursement of travel expenses, in accordance with PPM 49, from their employing department, agency and/or office or elected office.

C. Task Force members who are also a member of the Louisiana Legislature may seek a per diem from the Louisiana State Senate or House of Representatives, as appropriate, for their attendance at Task Force meetings and/or services on the Task Force.

SECTION 8: Support staff, facilities, and resources for the meeting of the Task Force and the performance of its duties shall be provided and/or coordinated by the Department of Health and Hospitals.

SECTION 9: No provision in this Order shall be interpreted or construed so as to create any right of action, cause of action, and/or substantive, procedural, and/or equitable right enforceable by, or in favor of, any person or entity against the state of Louisiana, any department, commission, board, entity, agency, office, or political subdivision of the state of Louisiana, and/or any officer or employee thereof.

SECTION 10: All departments, commissions, boards, offices, entities, agencies, and officers of the state of Louisiana, or any political subdivision thereof, are authorized and directed to cooperate with the Task Force in implementing the provisions of this Order.

SECTION 11: This Order is effective upon signature and shall continue in effect until amended, modified, terminated, or rescinded by the governor, or terminated by operation of law.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have set my hand officially and caused to be affixed the Great Seal of Louisiana, at the Capitol, in the city of Baton Rouge, on this 20th day of August, 2004.